Make Ahead

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

An unexpected combination of ingredients updates the classic Italian dessert. It is presented in individual servings here, but the ladyfingers, espresso and filling can be layered in a large dish and offered with the sauce on the side if you prefer.

You can make the syrup a day ahead; however, add the fruit no more than eight hours in advance, to prevent it from getting soggy.

These cookies are also great made with regular semisweet chocolate chips.

Here's the real thing — far more vividly colored, textured and flavored than the stuff that comes out of a can, and far more comforting. A drizzle of lemon-rosemary cream gives this classic American soup an Italian touch.

Crushed red pepper, caraway and dill accent this simple and colorful salad.

Perhaps no other dessert typifies the excess of the 1980s more than this flourless chocolate cake—which makes for an interesting parallel to the fancy cakes of the 1880s. This version was inspired by the one Narsai M. David served at his eponymous restaurant, in California’s Bay Area, during the early '80s.

This soup is also wonderful hot.

A great-looking, great-tasting summer pie. Brown sugar enhances the crust.

(GELATO AL CIOCCOLATO) We tested this recipe with both regular and Dutch-process cocoa powders and loved both versions. The Dutch-process cocoa powder yields a slightly more intense flavor.